Morgan Stanley Names New President

Morgan Stanley on Monday named Stephan F. Newhouse president, putting the co-head of the firm’s investment banking division in the No. 2 position to Chief Executive and Chairman Philip J. Purcell.

Newhouse, who replaces Robert G. Scott, a veteran banker who is retiring, played down talk that the promotion has implications for succession to the top post at the investment bank.

“Phil has said he’ll be around until he’s 65, and knowing him the way I do, I fully expect him to be around,” said Newhouse, 56, who also is chairman of Morgan Stanley’s international unit.

Yet analysts who cover the firm say Newhouse’s promotion clearly strengthens his position as a potential successor to Purcell, who turned 60 last month.

Brad Hintz, an analyst at Sanford Bernstein, said other potential candidates included Vikram Pandit, co-head of investment banking and stock and bond trading. Pandit, 46, is a former finance professor at Columbia University and the firm’s chief investment banking strategist.

Newhouse’s promotion over other senior officers, effective Dec. 1, underscores Morgan Stanley’s efforts to ward off increasing competition by strengthening relationships with its most important clients. It also reflects a strategy to offset sluggish growth in U.S. markets by expanding its businesses in Europe and Asia.